The Florida Panthers say they'll be without Jonathan Huberdeau (lacerated lower leg) for three-to-four months, placing his return no sooner than December.

The 23-year-old posted a second straight season of career highs in 2015-16, scoring 20 goals and 59 points in 76 games. This is a devastating blow to the Panthers, who will also be without Nick Bjugstad (broken hand) for at least a month to begin the season. Oct 9 - 1:32 PM

Jonathan Huberdeau's injury, which was previously described as lower body, is to his ankle/lower leg.

As previously noted, Huberdeau will have an MRI after being lacerated by the skate of New Jersey’s Sergey Kalinin. Huberdeau has already received stitches and was using a walking boot. Huberdeau will not be ready for the season opener, but what's still not known is just how serious this injury is. "It doesn’t look good right now, but until we get the MRI, we don’t know a whole lot," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He got cut pretty bad with the skate. We’ll see what happens. We’re obviously hoping for the best. Will it be two weeks? Two months? We don’t have a timeframe. The MRI will tell us a lot." Oct 9 - 10:55 AM

Depth Charts

Aleksander Barkov stretched his point streak to three games on Thursday night.

He earned a helper on a power-play goal by Jaromir Jagr in a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh. Barkov has scored three goals and added one assist in the last five games after he opened the year with two goals in his first 23 outings.

Nick Bjugstad was shifted back to center prior to the Panthers' 2-0 loss to Ottawa Saturday night.

Bjugstad had a five-game trial on the wing alongside Denis Malgin that didn't work out too well. Panthers' interim coach Tom Rowe shifted Bjugstad back to the pivot position. It doesn't really make much of a difference to Bjugstad's fantasy value as in either case he is still playing on the Cats' third line.

Denis Malgin got a chance to play with Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov on Monday night versus Boston.

He got the promotion from the third line because of a lower-body injury to Jonathan Marchessault. However, the rookie's pointless streak was extended to nine games in the contest. Malgin has four goals and four assists in 26 contests.

Thompson was called up from AHL Springfield on Sunday. He has six goals and 15 points in 20 AHL contests this season. He's 28 years old and has played in three career NHL games. "I know he’ll be ready to play. He’s got a heavy shot band; he’ll play a hard-nosed, two-way game," Panthers GM/interim coach Tom Rowe said. "He’ll go in and give us a spark. What we really like about him in training camp was how hard he played."

Jaromir Jagr found the back of the net in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Panthers may have made a coaching change, but it doesn't seem to have done them much good at this point. They found themselves down 3-0 before Jagr finally got them on the board with his sixth goal of the season. The 44-year-old has six goals and eight assists in 28 games this season.

Reilly Smith picked up his third helper over his last four games during Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers.

The 25-year-old is now up to six helpers and 10 points on the season through 27 games. This could be the sign that he's turning his campaign around and playing on the top line will certainly help in that regard.

Shawn Thornton will get his fifth game of the season on Saturday against Ottawa.

This will be career game number 660 for the veteran pugilist. He's offered nothing in the way of fantasy production this season, but the Senators do have that Chris Neil guy. Maybe they'll induce a few sparks.

Seth Griffith will be a healthy scratch in Monday's game against the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins put Griffith on waivers and he was claimed by the Panthers earlier this year. The 23-year-old has one assist in 11 games this season. Dylan McIlrath is also expected to watch from the press box.

It was thought that Keith Yandle could miss two weeks after a shot hit his foot on Monday, but he ended up logging 23:57 of ice time on Tuesday versus Philadelphia.

"He played unbelievable," interim coach Tom Rowe said. "That shows you how tough he is, mentally and physically. ... Our trainers deserve a lot of credit for getting him ready. Dave DiNapoli, Tim Witner, and Tommy Alvo, that's a phenomenal medical staff. They had him in the lineup and that's a big help. It's great for the young kids to see that. In a game where he could have mailed in easily and nobody would have said a word, but that's the kind of teammate he is." Yandle has suited up in 578 consecutive games over the last 7 1/2 years.

All of two games now, yes, but a scoring streak nevertheless. The 24-year-old picked up his fourth helper and fifth point of the season during Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers. Through the first 152 games of his career, Pysyk now has six goals and 31 points.

Roberto Luongo allowed four goals on 29 shots in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Penguins.

The game was essentially over after the first period with Pittsburgh leading 3-0. Luongo has now dropped three straight starts and he has just one win in his last five games. He'll enter his next start with a 9-8-2 record, a 2.25 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage.